Heiko Bleher:English y Espanol: Today it is 26 years ago my mother passed suddenly away, short of her 81st anniversary and I will never forget the 25th of March 1991. I had not seen my mother for over two years because of constant litigations defending myself from the lies and false statements in courts and elsewhere, coming from the man who tried to destroy my entire life-long work (out of jealousy?), while fighting the deadly malaria, this was no one less then Herbert R. Axelrod, who died last week, May 15th. I did not see my mother anymore and couldn’t fly to Brazil, where the pioneer woman of aquarium plants and fishes, introducing them worldwide, lived during her last 30 years. I had been forced to defend myself May 1991 in New Jersey in another one of the 7 litigations he made against my person, only to stand in Trenton’s court room to listen to another one of his lies, swearing under oath “ I, Professor Doctor Herbert. R. Axelrod have never published a book in my life, and the only book I always wanted to do ‘The Reference book’, Heiko Bleher is now publishing leaving me with a loss of 2.5 million dollars I had already invested in doing such a book”, although he had published the 3-volume Reference book already, and I had a copy in my hand, but the judge did not allow me to show it to him... I lost during five years defending myself everything I had earned in 30 years of hard work, day and night, my houses, bank accounts, books, expedition records, photos and films. The only thing I did not loose was my name, but I lost the most important thing at that time in my live, my mother – and that I can never forgive him. May people believe what they want to believe the truth about Axelrod’s doings were very different. And there are many who know it very well, including today’s president of TFH Publications, Inc., his own nephew Glen Axelrod, as well as late America’s real ornamental fish icons, such as Ross Socolof, and Fred Cochu (who gave the Cardinal tetras to Axelrod in New Jersey, as Axelrod never discovered a single fish). And in my first volume of Bleher’s Discus (see www.aquapress-bleher.com), which is until today the most complete book about the Amazon history and its fishes, one can read about some of his false fish-statements, false locations, false names and of fishes he never collected or found, with all respective references.I cannot say how much I miss my mother, the woman who made me learn and formed me to do what I do all my life. I learned from her the love for nature, the continuous search for new species to catalogue them for todays and future generations. And she taught me to conserve our species, to protect our nature and to love it by teaching to adults, children and grandchildren, as there is no better teacher than nature. Amanda Flora Hilda Bleher (born Kiel), represented all of that, all her live, I inherited it and will continue as long as I can, thinking of her daily…PS: The entire Axelrod vs. Heiko history – since 1963 – will be soon on my website.

Robert Ellermann HRA was not a "founder" of the tropical fish hobby in the US. He was born in 1927 when the new hobby was already well underway. He did not even enter the hobby until its first "golden age", the mid-1950's. William Innes, Fred Cochu, Albert Greenberg, the Wolfs, Aquarium Hamburg built the US hobby in the 20's and 30's. The Aquarium magazine, the Aquarium Journal, Tropicals, FAMA were all far better magazines than TFH. In the serious US hobby, HRA, his books and TFH were mostly, with some exceptions, looked down on and thought to be for those who didn't really know. He was a successful businessman and promoter. I often wonder if the hobby would not have been better in the US without his brand and influence.

Ronny Sisaket His books i use daily from the others i never heartPrikaži prevodVšeč mi je· Odgovori · 16 urRobert EllermannRobert Ellermann Then you still have much to learn. Fred Cochu founded Paramount Aquarium in NY and later Florida. From the late 1930's until the mid 1950's he was the largest and most important importer in the world. The cardinal tetras were first sent to him. Before that, with his close working relationship with Aquarium Hamburg, he popularized the neon tetra. Endless new species. Many species named for him. Countless collecting trips. A giant. Albert Greenberg helped create Florida farms with Bill Sternke. Created the live aquarium plant industry in the US. Collected species all over the world. The Wolfs built the biggest fish farm in Florida supplying the nation. Created the Black Angelfish. Aquarium Hamburg literally created the modern fish import/export tropical fish industry as well as large scale commercial breeding. William Innes is the founder of the modern US hobby. His classic book Exotic Aquarium Fishes was the "bible". HRA never touched it with his picture books. Innes' magazine The Aquarium Magazine was extraordinary. He was the top and Axelrod began by going after him. I am surprised you use HRA books with all the great European books - Sterba, Arnold and Ahl, Holly, Meinken and Rachow, Tetra Atlases, Kosmos publishing, and on and on. TFH books are nothing compared to those.

Bernd Degen Dear Robert Ellermann, I had never heard your name before and I don´t know what you did in the past. Dr. Axelrod was the one who published the books almost for the mass market to give millions of aquarists a chance to live this hobby.The so called serious books and people always wrote and published books for a smaller community with scientific touch, not for the hobbyist. See the name T.F.H. that meant "Hobbyist" not specialist. And that for he was a great man in all the pet hobby. He also published hundreds and hundreds of pet book, not only fish. Much more than thousand of books in pets were published by his company. Nobody in the world was able to publish only a few hundred of such books. Maybe you have had problems with him in the past because he was also a taff business man. But you have to be sometimes a clever and hard business man to have success. Dreaming does not ever help.

Goran Višnjarić po njemu su Axelrodi neonke dobile latinski naziv?Prikaži prevodVšeč mi je· Odgovori ·1· 5 urDržislav KrasićDržislav Krasić Da, spletom okolnosti. Inače je crvena neonka prvotno bila nazvana Hyphessobrycon cardinalisPrikaži prevodVšeč mi je· Odgovori ·2· 4 urHeiko BleherHeiko Bleher Držislav Krasić and the discover was the German Sioli and Fred Cochu in New Jersey received the first ones in the USA and gave specimens to him, and he went to court to have his name on it, although they had already been described and the named 'cardinalis'... He never discovered any fish...Prikaži prevodVšeč mi je· Odgovori · 1 uroDržislav KrasićDržislav Krasić Heiko I didn't wrote that he discovered it, only wrote that fish NOW has name after Axelrodi.I know the story about Sioli, Cochu and Axelrodi.

My very best friend Dr. Herbert Richard Axelrod passed away on monday 15. of May 2017. In my memory he will always stay with me! Yesterday I said Good Bye at his funeral in Zürich-Switzerland.

Unread postby Lisachromis » Thu May 18, 2017 8:19 pmHe was a large influence on the hobby, starting from his publishing company and continuing with his written adventures. He started Tropical Fish Hobbyist in September of 1952. In 1989 he donated his collection of fossil fish to the University of Guelph.